July 23, 2011

In this update: Old friends from Atlanta; Sensors rewiring, Start Car gets a tune-up and a beautiful 1969 AMX.

Bob and Samuel from Atlanta

Earlier in the week Von escorted some visiting friends from Atlanta, GA. Bob Carr and son Samuel were impressed with the former F-104 Starfighter jet plane, now a jet powered car being prepped for a run at a new world land speed record of 800mph. Team North American Eagle™ is committed to encouraging STEM in the students of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow. We hope Samuels visit was an inspiration for him.

Accelerometers, strain gages, pressure transducers and load cells

Steve Wallace got an early start this morning and spent most of the day putting together a new wire bundle and an array of sensors positioned to very accurately capture every axial movement of the 56′ long North American Eagle™ as it travels down its race course.

Besides oscilloscopes and Fluke meters another tool Steve uses is the Hewlett-Packard HP-50g Graphing and Scientific Calculator. Steve says “the large LCD display is easy to see in the field whenever I need to perform some quick trig, calculations or come up with necessary figures at a moment’s notice. I especially like the ability to enter formulas in common hand-written format with plenty of space to see the entire entry, and plenty of memory to store calculations for future reference” The HP-50g is used by the entire engineering team on the North American Eagle™.

M32-60B AVA Start Cart gets a Tune Up

Rich Pengelley, Tom Tiede and Ed took the lead today in tracing down a pesky circuitry gremlin in the start cart. The turbine powered cart, which provides electrical and air pressure to the eagle during engine start-up, has been provided by our loyal sponsor, American Valley Aviation.

A number of other hangar keeping chores took us to the end of yet another Saturday workday. Another visiting group spent some time observing operations. Bob and Barbara Van Dick from the Portland area brought family members along to take the tour. And Keith’s friend and co-worker, Ray Swift showed up in his beautifully restored 1969 AMX.

Thank You NAE Team Members!

On this beautiful sunny day we want to thank NAE™ members Steve Wallace, Tom Tiede, Ed Shadle, Keith Zanghi, Rich Pengelley, Von Armstrong, Sam Yellowbird and Larry Martinson as they turned out for another Saturday work session.

Leslie Porterfield New Co-Driver

Leslie Porterfield is now the new Co-Driver of the North American Eagle™.

Leslie already holds the title of world’s fastest woman on two wheels will now do the same later this fall for automobiles.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of such a dynamic team. I am honored to be part of their mission to go after the absolute unlimited land speed record. This is an opportunity of a lifetime!” Ms. Porterfield states.

The team was also all for the decision by Leslie Porterfield, holder of multiple Guinness Book of Speed Records on motorcycles, to join the team and strive for the world land speed record for women in a different class. Leslie will be piloting the North American Eagle™ during some future test runs. To read more about Leslie visit her website at www.LesliePorterfield.com.

Col Joe Kittinger BookSelling for $900 on Amazon!

Friend and consultant to the North American Eagle™ Col Joe Kittinger’s book, Come Up and Get Meis now available in softcover from Amazon.com. The hardcover version is sold out with copies going on Amazon for over $900.00! In addition to the softcover a Kindle version is available on Amazon. If you haven’t got your copy yet now would be the time while supplies last.

About

The North American Eagle project began as nothing more than an idea. That idea was to take a jet fighter, and turn it into the fastest racing machine in history. Together, Ed Shadle and Keith Zanghi founded a project with a goal to go supersonic, and break the World Land Speed Record of 763 MPH. Along the way, countless people have joined together to push the boundaries of speed, to see just how fast this car can go.

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